The layoffs of 100 employees across the Bassett Healthcare Network won’t have a severe impact on Cobleskill Regional Hospital.
Nonetheless, the local layoffs are painful, according Susan Oakes Ferrucci, hospital president and chief executive officer.
She said about seven would be laid off between the hospital and nearby Bassett Health Center. The number, however, is difficult to pinpoint because some Network employees work out of Cobleskill, Ms. Oakes Ferrucci said.
Layoffs across the Bassett Network were done to reduce a financial deficit, and the Cobleskill layoffs won’t affect patient care, Ms. Oakes Ferrucci added.
“Our highest priority is quality care,” she said, “but the financial health of the organization is important.”
Ms. Oakes Ferrucci sympathized with the laid off employees and said the layoffs were not performance-based.
“Those individuals will certainly be missed,” she added.
“It’s a loss no matter who way you look at it.”
A Bassett press release from Cooperstown said the health system suffered an $80 million loss in 2022 and a similar loss last year.
The positions affected were primarily administrative as opposed to those who provide bedside care.
“This has been a proactive measure that we’ve undertaken to maintain our independence and to continue to be a community-based healthcare system,” said Bassett CEO Staci Thompson.
Some of those laid off were offered other positions, Ms. Oakes Ferrucci said, and were encouraged to apply to other facilities in the Bassett Network.